The main trick of manipulation used by governance is about amputation of the sequence of events and their fragmentary presentation. To escape somehow from the obvious guilt for the disaster of April 7 last year, irresponsibly generated by irreconcilable opponents of that time, they cut of the film just the events that followed the mass actions of aggressive groups of protesters, who attacked without any reason the law enforcement forces, have launched a hail of stones on policemen who gave no grounds for such actions, and, ultimately, stormed, burned, plundered and pillaged the buildings of Presidency and Parliament.
Truncation of last year events and one-sided and biased culpability of law enforcement forces and therefore the communist governance pursues one goal: refrain from culpability of those who organized those protests, i.e. the current rulers. Guilt or innocence of every police officer, MoI leadership and then political leadership of the country may be determined exclusively by the court following an independent investigation, without any interference within it from the side of political factors. Also the investigative bodies and ultimately the justice must also deal with the obligation of establishing the role and degree of culpa for each party leader or party activist who organized those protests and to determine who has directed the provocateurs. But precisely these fundamental truths cannot be established presently in Moldova simply because current political power controls over the investigation and judicial bodies.
CAUSES AND EFFECTS OR LOGIC AND CHRONOLOGIC CHAIN OF EVENTS
In order to restore the entire picture of last year events, let s remember the order of their occurrence. Only in this way we can restore the logical and chronological chain of those days, only thus can we can bring up in our memory the actual sequence of events, only in this way we shall proceed from cause to effect, not vice versa. Otherwise said, the restoration of the chronological order of events will allow us to go from cause to effect, follow up, consequence.
So, here s how the disaster has happened a year ago:
- Leaders of some opposition parties state long before election day that election outcome will be falsified by communist governance.
- Filat files, on behalf of the party he leads, LDPM, a request at city hall, which notifies the local authority that starting with April 7 this party will organize protest actions to challenge the election results. The request states that organizers shall ensure the peaceful character of protests. It s worthwhile noting that this document includes two names of LDPM leaders, directly responsible for the peaceful character of demonstrations: Anghel Agachi and Victor Rosca. On the same day another request is filed at city hall by an organization that calls itself Civic Coalition Elections 2009, led by Natalia Morari. We quote from this document: “Mr/Ms Elena Zgardan, Artur Gurau, Natalia Morari are the ones entrusted to lead the meeting, to ensure its smooth development and to be responsible for it, so that the meeting to take place peacefully and degenerate not into acts of violence.“
- Mayor Dorin Chirtoaca states for media that meetings to follow are authorized by the city hall and calls people to go out on streets.
- Protests are triggered on April 6, when the Central Election Commission has not yet completed counting the votes and has not announced the final results of elections, and international observers of OSCE, Council of Europe etc. have not yet announced their findings on the electoral campaign.
- On April 7th leaders of a number of opposition parties gather the crowd in front of the Presidency and Parliament.
- Protests degrades into violence, large groups of protesters attack with stones and molest the police, without any grounds for such action. Policemen are beaten with stones, with feet on head, dozens of people in uniform being wounded.
- Protesters move to the Presidency building, throwing stones, breaking windows and doors, and ultimately taking by storm the Presidency premises, devastating, setting fire and rubbing everything on their way.
- Thousands of protesters, after devastating the Presidency, move to the Parliament, applying the same tactic: rain of stones, beating the police, occupation, destruction, fire and predation of the House of Parliament.
- Organizers of protests, trying to temper the crowd, lost any control over the situation and go away. After the vandalisation and burning the premises of those two state institutions, all party leaders who incited people to protest enter into panic and leave the crowds.
- By the evening of April 7 none of party leaders stays on street, none of those who prepared politically the protests is present among the protesters.
- In the night of 7 to 8 April the law enforcement forces carry out the operation for releasing those two buildings, apprehend many protesters, transport them to police stations. It is precisely during that night when all the abuses and excesses were committed by a number of employees of the Ministry of Interior.
WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DISASTER OCCURRED A YEAR AGO?
So, today we can say with certainty the following: even if there were provocateurs outside of liberal parties, who would have infiltrated into the crowd to reorient the peaceful protests into violence, as it is stated by proponents of the current power, the full political, legal and moral responsibility for the tragedy of April 7, 2009 falls on the shoulders of those who have assumed the organization of rallies by the requested filed at the city hall and through direct presence among the demonstrators. Beyond the need to establish though justice the personal liability of every violent protester and of every policeman who has beaten and tortured some of participants in those actions, the personal responsibility of Vladimir Filat and the other signatories and official organizers of those protests is absolutely clear.
Suffering, ill-treatment, torture and even death of some of the protesters must necessarily be followed by identification and punishment of perpetrators among the police of all ranks. However, the Prosecutor General must show equal treatment towards the organizers of those protests and towards those who have beaten and wounded the policemen in duty and have brought huge material damage to the state.
Vladimir Filat, Mihai Ghimpu, Dorin Chirtoaca, Serafim Urechean and other representatives of liberal parties, who organized those protests, had a moral and legal obligation to remain on street until the departure of the last protester, to go into every office of those two destroyed buildings, to speak with each young man so as to convince them to stop destroying and burning and to make them all leave to their homes. It is absolutely clear: if these politicians would have remained on central square throughout the day and night of April 7 to 8, none of protester would had suffered. Abuses and violence of the representatives of law enforcement forces cannot be justified, but they could have been avoided.
IT SHALL BE FOUND OUT WHOSE HANDS ARE STAINED WITH THE BLOOD OF VALERIU BOBOC. HOWEVER, WE CERTAINLY KNOW THAT BLOOD OF VALERIU BOBOC IS ON THE FACE OF VLADIMIR FILAT.
In these circumstances we can say without exaggeration that Valeriu Boboc s death is on the consciousness of Vladimir Filat and his comrades. Degraded and beaten young and naive people, who followed the calls to get out on street, are also on the consciousness of the current rulers. If it will be confirmed that Valeriu Boboc died because of some policemen, then his blood is on their hands. However, regardless of who killed this young man, his blood is also on the face of Vladimir FILAT. Because it is he who filed the request at city hall, he incited the crowd to rebellion and also he ran like a coward from them as soon as he felt the danger. Besides him, the ones who deserve to be nailed at the pillar of shame are the rest of politicians, cynical, immoral and cowardly, who are now self-positioning themselves as justice-makers and heroes.
All dramatic events on that fateful night could have been avoided. For that, however, the organizers would have to do two things: 1) to ensure the peaceful and democratic character of protests; 2) to stay with protesters throughout the day and night of April 7 to 8. However, the proponents of liberal parties have preferred to withdraw when facing the risks.
The undersigned, Iurie Rosca, I have the whole moral right to say strongly the above statements, because I and my colleagues have organized since 1988 hundreds and thousands of meetings and demonstrations. However, they have always been held in nonviolent and democratic way, and we, leaders of Christian Democratic People s Party, were the ones who ensured that our protests are peaceful and within legal limits.
I will bring just three examples of peaceful and long protest demonstrations, organized by CDPP during previous years, so that to make easier the necessary comparisons. In 2002, between January 9 and April 29, we have organized a number of nonstop meetings in the downtown of the capital city. During these actions, we, the Christian Democratic leaders, our MPs, have always taken the full responsibility and have been always present among the protesters, ensuring the peaceful character of actions and protecting the protestors from any attack by some provocative elements or police. In 2003, when, starting with November 24, we have held during one week in capital s downtown demonstrations against Kozak Memorandum, the situation was kept under control also by us. In 2004, during the month of August, we were present in front of the Radio House, protesting against censorship. And again any serious degradation of the situation was avoided. Yes, there have been some incidents with law enforcement bodies, but these conflicts have not escalated into mass violence and into molestation of protesters as it happened in 2009.
MIHAI GHIMPU AND DORIN CHIRTOACA, TWO OFFICIALS WHO TRAMPLE THE RULE OF LAW FOR THE SAKE OF PURPOSES
The press conference organized by the interim President Mihai Ghimpu and capital s mayor Dorin Chirtoaca on April 1, with the presentation of those video records, is a defiance of the rule of law, an action of cynical propaganda and an electoral target, which seriously undermines the investigation of the events of April 7, 2009. These two officials, who claim to be lawyers, have trampled the principle of presumption of innocence, naming a number of MoI leaders as being involved in molestation of protesters. We have no right to rule on guilt or innocence of those officers, but we cannot tolerate the fact that the interim head of state and general mayor of the capital city seek to use the tragedy of a year ago for electoral purposes. By their gesture, the two leading officials openly seek to exert pressure on the Prosecutor General and on Justice as a whole, imposing their version of interpretation of these events. M. Ghimpu and D. Chirtoaca didn t say a word about the policemen assaulted by violent groups of protesters, about the destructions committed by them and, especially, about the liability of organizers, including themselves, for inciting the crowds, whom they betrayed by leaving from the spot after they have escaped the situation from their control.
After that scandalous press conference we were entitled to expect an appropriate response from the Prosecutor General. However, we all have heard how the shy Prosecution office confirmed that they also possess such a video record. In this case the Prosecutor General was forced to submit a formal public warning to those two, as well as to other officials, urging them to cease any interference and pressure on the investigation and to avoid any accusation against any citizen until the investigation is over and sentence is ruled. Such a position of principle, unfortunately, cannot be taken by prosecution leadership for well-known reasons. The Prosecutor General has been installed in this position at the proposal of the Speaker of Parliament Mihai Ghimpu by the current parliamentary majority and is in relations of political subordination to those who have enthroned him and keep him in office. Since the current power refuses to change the status of prosecution service, preferring to maintain it in political subordination, we may strongly assert that the General Prosecutor s office plays the role of a lawyer of today s governance and a persecutor of its opponents. That is why today only the policemen are investigated and publicly prosecuted, while organizers of those violent demonstrations, as well as provocateurs and hooligans who beaten the policemen, destroyed two state buildings, have burned and rubbed them, are exempted of any risk of being treated at least as those police officers who were molested and injured when being in duty and undertaking no sign of attack against demonstrators throughout the day of April 7, 2009.
HOW SEVEN WILL BE DIVIDED TO FOUR?
It is clear that events of April 7, 2009 have become and electoral brand for the parties of ruling coalition, a launch pad in the approaching elections. They compete in pirouettes to capture as much of sympathy of manipulated public, which they hope to convert into votes. However, the four allies have one problem: how to divide seven to four? Especially when they will run on separate lists, and Marian Lupu is increasingly away from the other three. Let s not forget, by the way, that Marian Lupu was at that time Speaker of Parliament elected by communists, i.e. by the other side of barricade. So, we just have to cite the Latin adage, which is known from the work of Eminescu: NON IDEM EST SI DUO DICUNT IDEM. It means that it is not the same thing when two people say the same. The obsession to harvest electoral benefits for every components of the alliance may become detrimental to all alike.
HEROES OF TODAY, COWARDS OF A YEAR AGO
Thus, those who today call themselves heroes, defenders of democracy and moral prosecutors of former communist governance should be asked to rewind the film of events and to broadcast on all their tv channels in full, without censorship, truncation and manipulation. Let s see again who has filed requests at the city hall, who incited the crowds, who beaten the police, who burned two buildings, who foully cowardly fled in the middle of events, leaving provocateurs to make their plans, naive young men to enjoy imaginary victory and police to make arrests and abuses during the night of 7 to 8 April?
Let s ask Pro TV to repeat that talk show broadcasted on the evening of April 7 with scared and stuttered participants, who were crowded and twisted on the sofa of Lorena Bogza. Let s access the web page of that tv channel not to listen the justifications and hem and haws of those gathered there, but to watch their body language, gestures and their facial expressions.
RESIGNMENT OF COMMISSIONER SHOULD BE FOLLOWED BY THAT OF PRIME MINISTER FILAT
Also on April 1 the Prime Minister Filat makes “an ad hoc visit” to the Police Commissariat of the capital. Following this, the Commissioner of Chisinau, being allegedly involved in the events of April 7, resigns for the period of investigation. When leaving, Filat triumphantly said that he is satisfied and salutes the gesture the Commissioner. And this because, see God, we must understand that by staying in office this Commissioner could influence for his benefits the investigation. By this moment the involvement that police officer is only hypothetical, while the involvement of Filat is certain. This being so, we consider appropriate and necessary for the prime minister Filat to resign until the criminal investigation is over and final sentence on the events of a year ago is ruled. If a commissioner has resigned in order not to impede the investigation, Filat should follow his example. This is because from his position of prime minister he is infinitely more affecting the investigation than all the police together. Filat s resignation is the only chance he has to prove his honor, innocence and sense of political responsibility.
CONCLUSIONS
Again, the events of a year ago have to be seen in all their complexity. They began with attacks on protesters against police, and vice versa. I don t fall to assess, much less to judge the extent to which the leadership of the Ministry of Interior or the state has fulfilled its duty on 7 April. It is the Justice to deal with it. But when Justice is controlled by power, what hope we have that it will be impartial and will be able to honor its duties fully? What we know is certainty that the current exponents of power, who challenged the election results and called on the crowds to go out on street, are today exempted from any risk of being subjected to serious investigations and prosecuted by Justice as direct organizers and instigators. And that regardless of whether they were they also were the ones who directed provocateurs or just got out of control over situation, fleeing like cowards from the central square. Vladimir Filat Mihai Ghimpu, Dorin Chirtoaca, Serafim Urechean and other their comrades should stand on suspects place not alongside, but before the police who have committed acts of unjustified violence, following bandit attacks to which they and state institutions were subjected. Besides these leaders the aggressors should stay. They are known and, unlike the police who were operating at night, were filmed in full day by dozens of cameras.
However, if Justice will continue to play the game of power, the representatives of which violate the state institutions and challenge the rule of law and defy common sense, seeking to position themselves as innocent people or even heroes of those days, but also insisted to continue inciting the public opinion and feeding the logic of confrontation as the sole ratio of being the only way of communication with opponents, the political situation in the country can seriously and completely degrade. And whoever sows wind will reap storm. And who shall base their policies on lies and pressure will be surprised to withstand the harsh effect of boomerang.
Iurie ROSCA
2nd of April 2010
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